APPG on Music Report: Artificial Intelligence and the Music Industry | MPA Statement

Date 01st May

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On Wednesday 1 May, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music (APPG) published their new report calling for updated legislation to support the UK music industry and music fans by regulating artificial intelligence (AI).

The APPG on Music report makes 8 key recommendations to the Government to help manage the threat of AI to the music industry, including:

The Government should introduce an ambitious UK AI Act, which upholds our world-beating creating industries and shows the UK can lead the way on harnessing new technology.
The Government should ensure all AI-generated copy is clearly labelled, so music fans can fairly decide if they want to consume AI-generated content.
The Government should introduce a specific personality right to protect creators and artists from deepfakes, misappropriation and false endorsement.
The UK Government should take the lead role in the creation of a pro-creative industries international taskforce on AI.
(UK Music)

Read the MPA’s full statement below:

“The MPA welcomes the Artificial Intelligence and the Music Industry report, published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music. The report echoes the MPA’s persistent calls for Government to introduce a comprehensive AI Bill to “harvest the benefits of AI and help stave off the threats it poses” to the creative industries.

The Government cannot allow AI firms with millions of pounds in capital funding, to reap vast financial rewards from the use of copyrighted material without permission. It is vital that rightsholders have the option to choose wherever and how their works may be used in training (Large Language Models (LLMs)). This is a sentiment shared not only by the music industry but by 77% of UK adults who agree that AI-generated music that does not acknowledge the original music’s creators amounts to theft.

The report’s acknowledgment that “copyright law exists to incentivise human creativity by rewarding humans for the use of their intellectual property” is key. The success of the UK’s music industry is underpinned by its robust intellectual property and copyright regime. Failure to uphold these standards, will jeopardise the careers of the country’s talented creators and the music industry at large.”
– Paul Clements, CEO, MPA Group